The Doombringer is a dedicated defender. Both of his initial weapons require a few moments (2–3 seconds) before they can be fired, and he comes equipped with one of the weakest grenades in the game, making him ill-suited for base offense where enemies can appear at random and en masse.

Doombringers are often cast into one of many highly contrasting roles:

Heavy on Flag (HoF)
Sitting directly on the flag, the HoF is the last defense against cappers. Ideally in this role the Doombringer should be carrying the Chaingun, Mines and have either the Safety Third or Rage and Super Heavy perks equipped. Rage is useful should the Heavy On Flag stand behind the flag relative to incoming cappers' direction of approach. Since most flag runners deliver a clearing shot (or two or three), Rage will replenish about half of one's maximum HP right when the capper touches the flag and directly before the runner collides with the Super Heavy defender (hopefully killing them outright or at the very least sapping their velocity and allowing the chaingun or surrounding defenders to finish the job). Properly executed, this strategy should permit the Heavy On Flag to remain on the flag for a greater period of time or even indefinitely should the opposition be relying solely on a steady stream of clearing shots to eventually kill the defender.

Fatbringer
Whether in the Generator Room (also works in the enemy generator room) or around (and we do mean AROUND) the flag, this iteration of the Doombringer lays down Force Fields (and generally Mines) and digs in, keeping his Chain Gun spun up or Heavy Bolt Launcher ready, patrolling a small area at all times. His lack of mobility and low energy pool mean that he is a (potentially) intelligent moving turret with a very high damage capability. He will always appreciate you calling targets for him and may pull out the Saber Launcher from time to time to take care of targets (read: vehicles in the midfield) at range, but his goal is to stay as close as possible to whatever he is defending. Indoor Doombringers may appreciate the Titan Launcher as a secondary due to its larger splash damage, a useful quality for landing damage around corners or for finishing blows. Mines should also be used at chokepoints as strategically as possible since they double as motion sensors and can alert you to the presence of incoming cloaked hostiles. While a skilled player can hold their own indoors against any class, the Doombringer should not be considered an even match against a plasma-packing Brute and due caution should be exercised when facing one.

Doom Patrol
It is worth noting that, all else considered equal, the Doombringer should be able to defeat almost any other class one-on-one outdoors. Notable exceptions to this are Sentinels at extreme range (in which case, rerouting and approaching from a side may be effective) and skilled players also packing automatic weapons that can leverage lighter classes' on-ground mobility to literally dodge bullets (in which case there's no shame in retreating, then double- or triple-teaming such players). The chaingun's anti-air capacity is one of the best in the game and it packs sufficient damage per second to defeat any class within the span of a single jetpack burn. Since most players are unable to effectively engage airborne targets with explosive weapons (mortars, grenades, spinfusors, etc.), this gives the Doombringer a potentially tremendous advantage in being able to lay down a substantial first salvo before engaging in a proper duel of attrition, particularly against other heavy classes. The only trick, then, is to try and overcome the heavy class' inherent lack of mobility to move quickly into an effective engagement range. When playing patrol, the player should develop ski routes in the close-midfield (or further abroad as skill and perks permit) seeking to engage heavy classes and snipers that are attempting to harass flag defenders from range. Additionally, many classes will be loathe to engage a Doombringer in the open (particularly flag runners, for whom it means losing their momentum), providing a great opportunity for patrols to injure attackers without fear of serious retaliation. As an added bonus, Doombringers moving with sufficient velocity are able to "blueshift" their damage-per-second on stationary or unsuspecting targets, allowing even greater injury to be inflicted on a first salvo than if one were more casually approaching a target.

DoomIMBAIMBAIMBA[ragequit]
Coordinate with your teammates to get two or three doombringers running circles around the flag, prioritizing airborne targets and doing your collective best to focus fire opponents and provide mutual cover. Take advantage of the geometry of your formation, for if an opponent is strafing relative to one in an effort to dodge fire, they're probably moving in-line with another. Going airborne with a velocity lower than about 120-150 against three chainguns is a no-win situation for any class or player against even moderately skilled Doombringers.

The Chain Gun is the classic weapon of the Doombringer. It has a high rate of fire and deals heavy damage, especially at close and medium range. It is a projectile weapon with a spin-up time which means targets must be lead when aiming and anticipated when defending the flag. Spin-up time can be alleviated by pulsing the fire button, though this may be tiresome or carpal-tunnel inducing. This primary weapon is the most useful one for a HoF to have as they can usually injure incoming runners enough to allow a forcefield or Super Heavy collision to finish the job, as well as score several additional hits on outbound runners before they are out of range.

The Chain Cannon is a variant of the chain gun, sporting about 20% greater damage per shot but a slightly slower firing interval. While choice between the two may be left up to personal preference (or more realistically, available gold or XP), it is worth noting that the chain cannon can inflict more total damage before running out of ammo, while a faster rate of fire does assist in drawing a proper bead on airborne or moving targets by providing a higher "resolution" on where to aim. Because of this, many players may find the chain cannon to be preferable in engaging heavy classes, while the chain gun is more effective in bringing down faster moving targets.

The Heavy Bolt Launcher is the heavy hitter in a Doombringers arsenal. It fires a moderately fast moving arcing projectile that has a moderate splash radius and deals heavy damage on a direct hit (sufficient to kill light classes outright). The bolt launcher truly shines when used to defend or attack indoors where its high impulse can prevent enemies from advancing through doors or knock them off ledges or around corners. Best use of this weapon is achieved not only in inflicting damage, but also in controlling an opponent's mobility. This principle also applies outdoors, where a properly timed shot can knock a runner off-course, slow them down, or even kill a heavily wounded opponent with additional fall-damage. An improperly timed shot, however, can give runners a much needed velocity boost and cost one's team a flag capture or game.

The Saber Launcher is the utility weapon of this class. It carries twelve shots that home in on their target, but requires a three-second, uninterrupted line-of-sight to an airborne player or vehicle before firing. When launched against light classes, it is most often a one-hit kill on direct impact. Frequently, the velocity change caused by missile impact is able to disrupt or accelerate flag runner routes enough to make the landing fatal (or in advanced players' cases, worthy of suicide). Be aware that missiles can be effectively negated by the Pathfinder's shotgun or even shot by alert and empathetic teammates. As such, efforts should often be made to launch as many missiles against a target as possible should the first (or second or third or fourth or fifth) fail to connect. Moving toward the target will also reduce the interval in which the target may engage your missiles, though care should be taken when launching missiles while skiing uphill (as the forward velocity imparted to the missile can often make it collide with the hillside directly in front of your face upon launch, a potentially embarrassing situation particularly if you've been talking trash for the better part of the match). Against both ground and air vehicles, the Sabre Launcher is an effective deterrent and a lethal threat to careless drivers, but note that skilled tank drivers can effectively intercept the missiles by switching to the machine gunner's seat. The saber launcher is also effective at forcing flag runners to abandon high, swooping routes, opting for lower, skimming ones and making themselves vulnerable to splash from explosive weapons and base turrets. If you find you have no targets to fire the sabers against by the end of the match, you're probably using the weapon correctly. Even in such situations, however, the saber launcher can be used to great effect to spot for incoming hostiles by sweeping the reticles about and watching for the tell-tale lock-on squares to pop up. The player may then opt to switch to the primary weapon for the actual engagement.

The Titan Launcher is the alternate to the saber, sporting 20 shots and a range of about 10 meters. The missile moves more slowly than a spinfusor, inflicts less damage (812 on a direct hit, insufficient to one-shot anything), but has a pleasantly large splash radius and relatively high impulse. Best of all, it requires no lock-on to be fired. It is best employed indoors or in tight quarters where there are sufficient surfaces to explode the missile against to inflict damage and hampering opponent mobility can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Rage Fully upgraded, a defending player can regain 50% of their health upon an opponent grabbing the flag. This may permit defenders to survive additional clearing shots or simply give an occasional (but hopefully timely) health boost elsewhere in the base.

Looter Fully upgraded, each ammo nugget you pick up will give you 2 mines instead of 1. This perk is recommended over Safety Third. Note that this may not be as effective on maps where inventory stations are close at hand anyways or where your rate of mine consumption is not higher than the local rate of ammo drops.

Bounty Hunter Combined with mines, the Bounty Hunter perk can be effective at boosting one's score, particularly given the Doombringer's proximity to upgradeable hardware and its ability to garner kill streaks. If played regularly, this choice can result in several percent more XP per round via the bonus XP calculations, which by the endgame may translate to tens of thousands of points.

Secondary Perks

Super Heavy An essential for Heavy-On-Flag players, the Super Heavy perk allows defending players to inflict damage on opponents that collide against them with sufficient velocity. While variable, one can expect to inflict about half to three-quarters damage against a fast moving flag runner.

Survivalist For Doombringers patrolling the midfield, the Survivalist perk can provide an added boost of energy to get over hills to escape or engage, and also provide extended staying power when engaging multiple, serial opponents.

Quick Draw For Doombringers sporting both a Heavy Bolt Launcher and a Titan Launcher. Quick Draw makes the Doombringer able to let loose an explosive burst of damage by swapping weapons after firing one. Add Frag Grenades to maximize use of Quick Draw and make the Doombringer an explosives using nightmare. Best used indoors, but powerful dueler once you get the hang of both weapons.